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Is Australia ready for this man as Prime Minister?

Anthony Albanese took "The Daggy Dad'' to new heights on Sunday in support of a good cause.

Anthony Albanese took "The Daggy Dad'' to new heights on Sunday in support of a good cause. Photo: AAP

Is Australia ready for this man as Prime Minister?

Anthony Albanese, 56, certainly hopes so and decided to take Scott Morrison’s signature look, The Daggy Dad, to new heights on Sunday in support of a good cause.

Declaring his key performance indicator was “not getting injured”, the Labor leader took to the footy field to support Reclink, a charity designed to help disadvantaged Australians engage with evidence-based sports and arts programs.

pollies playing sport

“He looks like a very relatable guy trying his hand at a bit of sport.” Photo: AAP

Image consultant Alarna Hope, who rose to fame courtesy of her blog That Effortless Bitch, said that while the photos certainly lacked the swagger of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s early appearances in GQ magazine, they were unlikely to do his image any serious harm.

“Looking at these photos, if anything it reminds me of my own father. I think it would be a lot for anyone to get out there in short shorts in this weather,” she said.

“I think, to be honest, I think ‘good on him’. He looks like he’s having fun.

“He looks like a very relatable guy trying his hand at a bit of sport.”

Ms Hope, who lives in Mr Albanese’s Marrickville-based electorate in Sydney, urged him to consider wearing more Australian brands and “brands that are good for our farmers”.

“So there’s MJ Bale. They are a great, ethical company and a fantastic suiting brand. Suiting can be such an investment for people. Sportscraft is another label that does a lot for Australian textiles and farmers.”

Former Labor leader Mark Latham was famously accused of having “man boobs” after playing a cricket game in a white T-shirt.

politicians trying to play sport

“Manboob: Our spinner from the sub-continent”: Mark Latham was lampooned for his ‘man boobs’ in 2004. Photo: AAP

The Australian newspaper reported that with “with Latham increasingly under the spotlight – a 60 Minutes crew is trailing him around – his wobbly bits are ripe for comment”. One wag called him “Manboob, our spinner from the subcontinent”.

Before that, Bob Hawke frequently governed without clothes, wearing budgie smugglers in public and sometimes nothing at all when his Treasurer Paul Keating came to visit.

“I’d arrive at The Lodge at 10.30am and find Bob sunning himself by the pool,” Mr Keating said.

“He often used to do this nude.

“I did have a few things to say about midgets … on the occasion, but this is not the occasion for elaborating.”

politicians trying to play sport

Bob Hawke was often pictured in his “budgie smugglers”. Photo: 60 Minutes

“Gareth and I went out there in suits one day, sweating, and there’s Bob in the nude,” he recalled.

“I said, ‘Don’t worry, midgets’,” before making a hand gesture suggesting Mr Hawke was not well endowed.

Canberra-based image consultant Jane Allen, of Styledge, said it was tough for modern politicians to break out of a conservative look.

“Anthony Albanese is playing a game of AFL. Well, that’s the uniform. How old is he, 50?,” she said.

“As a politician, you’re probably boxed in. They are always going to go with the navy suit with the pale grey tie. They all wear a uniform.”

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